Nihilism

Nihilism (IPA pronunciation: "ˈnaɪ.əlɪzəm") is the belief that life is, overall, meaningless. A true nihilist would have no loyalties, and no purpose. The atheistFriedrich Nietzsche argued that moral, religious, and metaphysical convictions lead to nihilism's corrosive effects; cause the collapse of meaning, relevance, purpose, and precipitate the greatest crisis in human history.[1] An example of nihilism would be the question reportedly posed by Jared Loughner to a congresswoman whom he allegedly later shot:[2]

Epistemological nihilism which denies the possibility of knowledge and truth; this form of nihilism is identified with postmodernism. One famous example of epistemological nihilism is the words Socrates said before his death: "I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

Political Nihilism is the belief that the destruction of all existing political, social, and religious order is a prerequisite for any future improvement; this form of nihilism is identified with anarchism.

In his book, The Decline of the West, German philosopher Oswald Spengler observes that pattern of nihilism was a feature shared by all civilizations on the verge of collapse.

Beyond Nihilism

Friedrich Nietzsche saw two kinds of nihilism in the world; pessimistic and joyous. Pessimistic nihilism was that created by the death of God in the minds of men, and corresponds to the idea that life is without meaning or value. Joyous nihilism was that experienced by those few who, like him, experienced the loss of an externally created and imposed moral structure as a liberation and not a great loss, and was the seed that let the herald Nietzsche proclaim the coming of the Übermensch.